4 ms·

Has anything like this been tried before? Maybe not a corpse, but some other organic matter?

te_platt 10y ago
Maybe, but not on purpose. Nasa goes to great lengths to sterilize probes going to Mars. http://mars.nasa.gov/mer/technology/is_planetary_protection.html http://mars.nasa.gov/mer/technology/is_planetary_protection....
- pmoriarty 10y ago
  If Musk's Mars colonization plans come to fruition, all that trouble NASA went to sterilize their Mars probes will be for nothing.
  - erispoe 10y ago
    Private parties still have to comply with planetary protection treaties. In fact any colonization plan, or even commercial flight, to Mars (or anywhere else in the solar system) from SpaceX needs to be approved by the US. It's not a free for all out there, space is governed by treaties. That's a big hurdle to colonization and commercial exploitation. Because it means you have to show you're not contaminating alien life. I would be really excited if we find traces of life on Mars but, at the same time, it would probably delay commercial exploitation and colonization for decades...
    - flukus 10y ago
      They'll have to comply, but they will probably cut corners.
      - erispoe 10y ago
        It depends what the US allows them to do, the same way you cannot legally "cut corners" with FDA regulations. Obviously you cannot sterilize astronauts. But they could be restrained to landings outside of the special regions, which are the most promising for astrobiology.
        flukus 10y ago
        Assuming the commercial operator is in the US. China might cut some red tape.
        erispoe 10y ago
        China is bound by international treaties the same way.
erispoe 10y ago
We don't know if life exists or has existed on other bodies of our solar system, therefore we take great precautions to avoid contamination. Probes are sterilized, and some regions of Mars (Mars Special Regions) are barred from landings, until we can ensure better sterilization of what we send there. It would be a shame to contaminate life samples from other planets with our own before we can study it.

Maybe, but not on purpose. Nasa goes to great lengths to sterilize probes going to Mars. http://mars.nasa.gov/mer/technology/is_planetary_protection.html http://mars.nasa.gov/mer/technology/is_planetary_protection....

pmoriarty 10y ago
If Musk's Mars colonization plans come to fruition, all that trouble NASA went to sterilize their Mars probes will be for nothing.
- erispoe 10y ago
  Private parties still have to comply with planetary protection treaties. In fact any colonization plan, or even commercial flight, to Mars (or anywhere else in the solar system) from SpaceX needs to be approved by the US. It's not a free for all out there, space is governed by treaties. That's a big hurdle to colonization and commercial exploitation. Because it means you have to show you're not contaminating alien life. I would be really excited if we find traces of life on Mars but, at the same time, it would probably delay commercial exploitation and colonization for decades...
  - flukus 10y ago
    They'll have to comply, but they will probably cut corners.
    - erispoe 10y ago
      It depends what the US allows them to do, the same way you cannot legally "cut corners" with FDA regulations. Obviously you cannot sterilize astronauts. But they could be restrained to landings outside of the special regions, which are the most promising for astrobiology.
      - flukus 10y ago
        Assuming the commercial operator is in the US. China might cut some red tape.
        erispoe 10y ago
        China is bound by international treaties the same way.

erispoe 10y ago

We don't know if life exists or has existed on other bodies of our solar system, therefore we take great precautions to avoid contamination. Probes are sterilized, and some regions of Mars (Mars Special Regions) are barred from landings, until we can ensure better sterilization of what we send there. It would be a shame to contaminate life samples from other planets with our own before we can study it.